Irish mortgage rates inch higher in August from July

New figures from the Central Bank show that the weighted average interest rate on new Irish mortgages in August was 3.53%, up a basis point from July and down five basis points on the same time last year.

The Central Bank said the euro area average stood at 3.62% in August.

Ireland had the 11th highest weighted average rate in the euro area at end of August, down from 9th highest in July, it added.

Today’s figures show that Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania had the highest mortgage rates at 4.47%, 4.39% and 4.17% respectively, while Malta at 1.88% and Bulgaria at 2.4% had the lowest.

The Central Bank said the weighted average interest rate on new fixed rate mortgages – which make up 94% of the volume of new mortgages, was 3.49% in August, up one basis point from the previous month.

Meanwhile, the weighted average interest rate on new variable rate mortgage agreements was 4.16% in August, seven basis points up from July and seven basis points higher than the same month last year.

The total volume of new mortgages decreased to €1.3 billion in August, 9% lower on the previous month.